--- William Denton <
buff@pobox.com> wrote:
> John D. MacDonald, THE DAMNED (Fawcett Gold
Medal
> 240, 1952). The cover
> is a couple out on a country hillside--she's a
dishy
> bra-clad blonde
> laying on the ground with his shirt partially
draped
> over her bosom, he's
> a handsome shirtless young fellow who's looking
at
> her with concern, his
> chin resting on his hand. In the middle of
the
> picture, in big words, it
> says "'I WISH I HAD WRITTEN THIS BOOK!' --
MICKEY
> SPILLANE." On the back,
> it says, "MICKEY SPILLANE says he wishes he
had
> written this book. No
> wonder--it's by John D. MacDonald, the author
of
> those other Gold Medal
> greats" with a list of four titles.
>
> This is a second printing, from 1953. I have
a
> later edition (Gold Medal
> #R2052, 1968 or 1969) that has a similar
> illustration on the cover, a
> couple in the same position and dressed the
same
> way, but with no
> background, and she's wearing a strapless blue
bra
> or something that's
> partly obscured by his shirt. I haven't read
the
> book yet, but I assume
> either this is an important scene in it or
the
> second artist just copied
> the first. This is one of JDM's best, isn't
it?
I really didn't like it, but I've got a minority opinion on
JDM's non-McGees. Briefly, although there are some good ones
(SOFT TOUCH, END OF THE NIGHT, KEY TO THE SUITE, A FLASH OF
GREEN) I think they're mostly crap, either very strained
efforts that show a lot of their pulp roots (ONE MONDAY WE
KILLED THEM ALL), or very sudsy efforts that owe one hell of
a lot to John O'Hara (CONTRARY PLEASURE, the one you just
got.)
Like I said, I recognize this is a minority POV.
My own recent purchases:
JDM -- THE LAST ONE LEFT. I'm hoping this is one of the good
non-McGees. Published in 1967, which is a good sign, I
hope.
John Lutz -- TROPICAL HEAT
Brett Halliday -- THE PRIVATE PRACTICE OF MICHAEL
SHAYNE.
Derek Raymond -- HOW THE DEAD LIVE. Third in the Factory
series of novels; I've read HE DIED WITH HIS EYES OPEN and
THE DEVIL'S HOME ON LEAVE (Factory #1 and #2), both of which
I thought were marvelous.
Teri White -- FAULT LINES. Thoughts on her?
Newton Thornburg -- CUTTER AND BONE. I've been looking for
this one for a long, long time -- my copy is shot to hell but
I've not seen this elsewhere.
Ross Thomas -- YELLOW DOG CONTRACT. Thomas is one of my
favorite writers in the genre, this is one of the few that I
haven't already read.
and E. Richard Johnson -- THE CARDINALLI CONTRACT. I've
gotten interested in Seventies era hardboiled -- say anything
before the appearance of Spenser. I've got a gut feeling that
a lot of good hardboiled books sort of floated under the
radar back then. Anyway, the only other Johnson I've read is
MONGO'S BACK IN TOWN, which I remember as being crude but
effective.
doug
===== Doug Bassett
dj_bassett@yahoo.com
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